Description

The Dash Robot is an educational toy from Wonder Workshop. It’s one of the few educational toys that is actually fun for kids to play with and figure things out. There are 5 different apps you can use with the dash robot, all free to download on iOS and Android. It even won the Gold Award from National Parenting in 2015. It teaches kids the basics of coding in a way that’s fun and easy to learn. It’s loaded with sounds and sensors to help make it act like a real living thing and to provide many different ways to program it. Does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

PronsCons

Several compatible apps

No instructions required

Many different coding variations

Easy to use right out of the box

More fun with his partner DOT

Review Time!

For an educational toy to be successful it also has to be fun. There is no denying that the Dash Robot brings joy to the children who experience it. Besides, it doesn’t have to be educational, it works just fine as a regular toy for driving around the house via the remote control app. The thing about this robot is that most of the fun is actually the part where you learn. It’s a great time experimenting with all of the commands and linking them together to get Dash to perform all kinds of complex movements and actions.

Coding sounds hard but the way Wonder Workshop has added it to the Dash Robot makes it super easy even for younger children, and packs in enough challenge and variety for older kids and those who are more advanced. The coding apps “Blockly” and “Wonder” allow the user to make use of all of the movements, sounds, lights, and sensors to allow Dash to move around objects, dance, speak or even just drive around aimlessly if you want.

The apps use different commands that you can drag and drop and link together for endless fun. By using the Wonder app, you can even save your commands right on the Dash Robot, meaning you wont need the phone or tablet the next time you play with it. The commands can be activated by a timer or even by sounds.

I should mention that Dash also has an optional companion named Dot. Dot doesn’t move but can add a lot of interactivity with Dash, and can even be used as a trigger to events when Dash sees him. The Dash Robot is also highly durable, as it should be when designed for younger children. The sensors even allow it to detect objects so it avoids them instead of bumping into them. You even get some starter blocks that you can build upon with LEGO to change the look of Dash or build a catapult to shoot LEGO blocks. There are so many more features that I can’t list them all here.

Is it Worth a Purchase?

Short answer, yes. It’s not easy to find an educational toy that your child actually enjoys. The Dash Robot accomplishes this wonderfully. By using the 5 free apps there are an unlimited number of coding options available so you never run out of things to do. The battery charge isn’t the longest but it’s long enough for an extended play session. I highly recommend the Dash Robot to any parent with a young, and even a not so young, child.